Didn't Jesus specifically say His kingdom was NOT of this world?
Yet Fundamentalist Christians in general, and the various flavors of Pentes in particular, are always trying to impose their will on everybody else. Why? I rarely see the word "Dominionist" without "Neopentecostal" in front of it, honestly. Usually whenever somebody talks about "bringing in the Kingdom" they don't mean in a spiritual way.
To me this seems to fly in the face of everything Jesus was about. (Most things Pentes do seem that way.) He said take care of what's wrong with YOU first, then go out and fix the world...by living in such a way so that people will follow your example.
Yet there is quite an influential minority of dominionists and theocrats out there...most of whose leaders don't live by their own rules last I checked. Once in awhile, yes, one runs into a domineering A**hole who is of another religion or not religious at all but in my life the vast majority of people who try to get others to do what they want through bullying or dishonest or manipulative means have been Fundy or Pente Christians. They usually use social rather than physical force, and try to manipulate people into doing things their way weather it's through "words from the Lord" or manipulating the government to pass certain laws (moral refusal clauses, etc.)
Usually what they want is what they want, and they'll ignore science, logic, medicine, reason and all manner of things to get it. Some people seem to think either that everybody should be Christian (Usually whatever kind they are, too!) Or that the government should be inherantly Christian and non-Christians should be second class citizens. But most people are opposed to anything theocratic. Religion influences law and politics, sure...but the US constitution and various laws reflect the will of most people that no religion is favored by the government. Despite various Bush administration and Religious Right attempts to get around that...which haven't worked very well overall...it's still there and it's not going away. Mostly all they've accomplished is to make people sick and tired of the religious right and the republicans...and make a mess of the country and the economy.
It seems to me that among the general population fewer people are religious at all, anymore. Most people don't care about the things that offend the Fundies and Pentes. In fact it seems like the only thing that protects Pentes in particular from the rest of us is that most people don't know about how nuts they are. Usually if there's something *I* want and nobody else...or very few others want the same, I just figure I'm not gonna get it and move on. I don't keep plotting and scheming for months or years to get it especially when it seems like I'll be even less likely to get it later. I might even re-examine what I want and figure out I was wrong to want it. Apparently, some Pentes don't do that.
Why is it that religious nuts in general and Pentes in particular seem immune to the sort of logical conclusions most of the rest of us learned by the time we were ten? What exactly motivates somebody like my ex-wife (A Pente) to try for 7 years to get me back even though she knew she had nobody but herself and her own behavior to blame? What makes people try to get the government to do things for them and ignore the other 75% of the population? Are these people that selfish, are they really THAT tribal? Whatever happened to the Christian ethic of concern for others that I learned when I was a kid? Were these people just not taught it?
Religion overall might be on the decline...but I do wonder, as selfish as people are getting and as much as Pentecostalism promotes selfishness...if Pentes wouldn't see an increase in their numbers if more people were aware of them and/or their teachings??
Another issue along the same lines, I wonder if we won't see a Pente theocracy somewhere in the world in this century. It (probably) won't happen in the USA. Not the whole country at least (the people are too well armed, and mostly non-Pente) though I could see a civil war leading to part of the country being the Republic of Gilead at least temporarily...though based on our performance in Iraq we might lose the South or maybe just Texas (for example.) While I don't see it working here, I could definitely see it happening somewhere.. This is why groups like "Watchmen on the walls" and anti-gay issues in Russia...combined with the conflict with Georgia...worry me. I hear Russia has a good number of Pentes. Likewise, I've heard a lot of countries in Africa are loaded with Pentes. Also, aren't some of the biggest Pente churches in the world in South Korea? Any one of these places (or even more then one) could end up with a Pente theocracy eventually. Guatemala came close back in the 80's but it didn't take before the Army got sick of Rios Montt. Now though, I could see support for a Pente regime somewhere, money...not to mention people...coming from all over the world. Of course, it'll all fall apart eventually. (It'll probably collapse quite spectacularly as well.)
It definitely seems like Pentes have an ability to affect others that is out of proportion to their numbers...they certainly had bad effects on me even though very few of the people I know or ever have known were Pentes.
Like I said, it just boggles my mind how selfish Pente people can be, and how much they sometimes want to impose their will on everybody else. Those of you who were Pentes...what makes people think like this? Elitism? Is it more of the "delusions of grandeur?" I'm pretty sure basic authoritarianism plays into it...and they always have to be AGAINST something, too.
Yet Fundamentalist Christians in general, and the various flavors of Pentes in particular, are always trying to impose their will on everybody else. Why? I rarely see the word "Dominionist" without "Neopentecostal" in front of it, honestly. Usually whenever somebody talks about "bringing in the Kingdom" they don't mean in a spiritual way.
To me this seems to fly in the face of everything Jesus was about. (Most things Pentes do seem that way.) He said take care of what's wrong with YOU first, then go out and fix the world...by living in such a way so that people will follow your example.
Yet there is quite an influential minority of dominionists and theocrats out there...most of whose leaders don't live by their own rules last I checked. Once in awhile, yes, one runs into a domineering A**hole who is of another religion or not religious at all but in my life the vast majority of people who try to get others to do what they want through bullying or dishonest or manipulative means have been Fundy or Pente Christians. They usually use social rather than physical force, and try to manipulate people into doing things their way weather it's through "words from the Lord" or manipulating the government to pass certain laws (moral refusal clauses, etc.)
Usually what they want is what they want, and they'll ignore science, logic, medicine, reason and all manner of things to get it. Some people seem to think either that everybody should be Christian (Usually whatever kind they are, too!) Or that the government should be inherantly Christian and non-Christians should be second class citizens. But most people are opposed to anything theocratic. Religion influences law and politics, sure...but the US constitution and various laws reflect the will of most people that no religion is favored by the government. Despite various Bush administration and Religious Right attempts to get around that...which haven't worked very well overall...it's still there and it's not going away. Mostly all they've accomplished is to make people sick and tired of the religious right and the republicans...and make a mess of the country and the economy.
It seems to me that among the general population fewer people are religious at all, anymore. Most people don't care about the things that offend the Fundies and Pentes. In fact it seems like the only thing that protects Pentes in particular from the rest of us is that most people don't know about how nuts they are. Usually if there's something *I* want and nobody else...or very few others want the same, I just figure I'm not gonna get it and move on. I don't keep plotting and scheming for months or years to get it especially when it seems like I'll be even less likely to get it later. I might even re-examine what I want and figure out I was wrong to want it. Apparently, some Pentes don't do that.
Why is it that religious nuts in general and Pentes in particular seem immune to the sort of logical conclusions most of the rest of us learned by the time we were ten? What exactly motivates somebody like my ex-wife (A Pente) to try for 7 years to get me back even though she knew she had nobody but herself and her own behavior to blame? What makes people try to get the government to do things for them and ignore the other 75% of the population? Are these people that selfish, are they really THAT tribal? Whatever happened to the Christian ethic of concern for others that I learned when I was a kid? Were these people just not taught it?
Religion overall might be on the decline...but I do wonder, as selfish as people are getting and as much as Pentecostalism promotes selfishness...if Pentes wouldn't see an increase in their numbers if more people were aware of them and/or their teachings??
Another issue along the same lines, I wonder if we won't see a Pente theocracy somewhere in the world in this century. It (probably) won't happen in the USA. Not the whole country at least (the people are too well armed, and mostly non-Pente) though I could see a civil war leading to part of the country being the Republic of Gilead at least temporarily...though based on our performance in Iraq we might lose the South or maybe just Texas (for example.) While I don't see it working here, I could definitely see it happening somewhere.. This is why groups like "Watchmen on the walls" and anti-gay issues in Russia...combined with the conflict with Georgia...worry me. I hear Russia has a good number of Pentes. Likewise, I've heard a lot of countries in Africa are loaded with Pentes. Also, aren't some of the biggest Pente churches in the world in South Korea? Any one of these places (or even more then one) could end up with a Pente theocracy eventually. Guatemala came close back in the 80's but it didn't take before the Army got sick of Rios Montt. Now though, I could see support for a Pente regime somewhere, money...not to mention people...coming from all over the world. Of course, it'll all fall apart eventually. (It'll probably collapse quite spectacularly as well.)
It definitely seems like Pentes have an ability to affect others that is out of proportion to their numbers...they certainly had bad effects on me even though very few of the people I know or ever have known were Pentes.
Like I said, it just boggles my mind how selfish Pente people can be, and how much they sometimes want to impose their will on everybody else. Those of you who were Pentes...what makes people think like this? Elitism? Is it more of the "delusions of grandeur?" I'm pretty sure basic authoritarianism plays into it...and they always have to be AGAINST something, too.
